Internal changes…. Should you stay or should you go? When is the right time to leave a job?

When you’re settled in a job, there’s a familiarity with the commute, the team, the projects and the overall environment. You may very much enjoy the work that you’re doing and see the potential of long-term growth.

What happens when there is a new management team? With shifts in the economy, we see key players downsized and new players are brought into the firm. What does this mean to you personally?

Research by the Washington, DC-based Employee Benefit Research Institute found that the average length of time for workers 25 and older tostay in one job is about 5 years.

With new management come new opportunities. Take the initiative to get to know the new players with an attitude that you are there to help make them successful.

You know it’s the right time to leave the job when you feel that attitudes are changing. Your body will often tell you before you mentally acknowledge that you need a shift. Headaches, a burning stomach, or other health-related issues tell you when it’s time to go.

Be proactive. When it’s time to leave, take the necessary steps to leave on good terms and find a new situation.

With the current economy, if you can stay where you are as long as possible, this is the time to hold tight.

There are people who thrive in both the best and worst of times. Attitude is everything. Although your world may be in transition, focus on the positive aspects of the change and trust that you will be fine.

Individual reputations are career long and can take years to establish. You work hard to create a positive reputation in your industry.

When putting personal information online, be prudent. This includes pictures and videos, too. You never know what someone is going to search for and find.

What happens if your name, or your brand, is sullied online? Given that recruiters, employers and potential dates all Google each other, the potential to find erroneous information is possible, especially as many people share a same name.

Should you find information online that could be considered negative, since you can’t hide or delete content from the search engines, what are some of your options?

1) Create new online content that comes up first in the search engines, and is

higher than the “bad” information.

2) Consider paying a firm that specializes in removing information from

search engines. The process can take several months. A sampling of fees

showed ranges from $100 an hour to $2,500 for the job.

Without vouching for any of the firms below, some of the known companies

Save your résumé with your name so the reader sees your name in the attachment. For example: John Doe Résumé.doc

Consider how an internal recruiter or hiring manager searches for your résumé in a database. What key words do you need to stand out? The closer your résumé seems to the job, the more likely you are to gain an interview.

You may consider adding a section called “Key Words” to the bottom of your résumé so that you are more likely to appear at the top of the skill set search.

If you’re in a job, you’re selling your ideas and services to your colleagues, managers and internal customers.

Sales involve staying in touch so that you’re at top of mind. Visibility translates into such activities as sending emails, making phone calls, meeting for lunches, networking, sending holiday cards and more.

If you’re looking for a job, you’re in sales and the product is YOU. A sale involves making your availability known, then staying in touch so that your prospective employer thinks of you first.

At all points in your career, you need to market yourself. It’s a lot of work and not everyone is comfortable with the process. Good sales people are persistent and it’s not until you call on a contact at least five times that your prospect may be willing to buy.

Let’s take this into the job market. If you’re looking for work, it’s your responsibility to stay in touch with your professional network, recruiters and potential hiring managers. There is a fine line between invisibility and being a pest. The squeaky wheel does get the grease.

Just think: The founders of our country were the professionals of their time- just as we are today. Without going into full history, we know they believed in a cause greater than they were. They were willing to sacrifice their lives, and their livelihoods, to form our nation.

In this time of change and transition for so many, is there a larger cause with which you can align? Is there a greater vision that will expand your world?

Our founding fathers certainly never envisioned the expansion that has since occurred from their ideas, bravery and sacrifice.